Cowboys' Jadeveon Clowney claims to have 'a lot' left in tank; what made pass rusher choose Dallas?

FRISCO, Texas -- It's very easy to draw a line from the Dallas Cowboys trading away All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons a week before the 2025 season to the Green Bay Packers to Dallas officially signing three-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney on Monday.

Clowney himself, however, claimed he's not trying to be the new Parsons in Dallas at the age of 32 and entering his 12th NFL season. The first overall pick from the 2014 NFL Draft said he was actually contemplating becoming a Cowboy before the Parsons trade.

"No, Micah Parsons is Micah Parsons. I'm Jadeveon Clowney. I'm coming in to do me, just do my thing, help in any way I can and play football," Clowney said Monday. "I said they could have used me when he was here. I felt they could have used me with him also. ... Everything happened for a reason, and I'm here now. I'm just glad for the opportunity to be here and to keep playing football."  

However, Dallas desperately needs more life for its pass rush in the post-Parsons era. The Cowboys led the NFL in quarterback pressure rate (40.2%) across the departed 26-year-old's first four seasons in Dallas. In two games without him in 2025, the Cowboys' pass rush has generated a nearly 10% lower quarterback pressure rate of 30.8% through two weeks. That decline helped 36-year-old Russell Wilson complete 30 of his 41 passes on Sunday for 450 yards, three touchdowns and an interception in Dallas' narrow 40-37 overtime victory in Week 2. Wilson racked up 264 of his 450 pass yards on throws of 20 or more air yards, which stands as the most passing yards on throws of 20 or more air yards by any player in a game since Ben Roethlisberger in 2015, per CBS Sports Research. 

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"We just are in the business of adding good football players, and he's a damn good football player, a guy that we've all seen play at a high level for a long time and the reason we brought him in was to figure out where he was from a conditioning standpoint, where he was mentally. I think he checked all those boxes for us," Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said on Monday. "He's hungry. He has missed it. He really has. ... This guy is a good football player. He's not here just to be a pass rusher. He's here to play defense and to affect the game and to stop the run and to affect the quarterback by moving him off the spot. He knows how to play football. So it'll be exciting to see him out there on the practice field on Wednesday." 

Despite the Dallas defense struggling to contain Wilson and Pro Bowl wide receiver Malik Nabers (167 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns on nine catches), that didn't deter Clowney from his pregame agreement to join the Cowboys on Sunday. He watched every snap on Sunday, and he came away encouraged by one thing about Dallas' defense. That unit did get multiple stops in overtime to put the Cowboys All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey in position to win the game as time expired in the extra session.  

"I was watching them compete. That's all I want to see out of guys out there: compete," Clowney said. "As long as you compete, I feel like any mistakes you can correct throughout the week."

Clowney visited the Cowboys' facility and observed practice on Wednesday, and a number of things that stood out to him on that visit sold him on his fit with Dallas. He was excited about the team personnel with two All-Pro caliber cornerbacks in Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland as well as new Cowboys three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark. 

"A few reasons. I like the secondary. I like that they got Kenny Clark for the inside. I said 'I think I can help their team,'" Clowney said. "They just needed some edge rushers, and I felt like I can go out here and help this defense."  

"Well I think he's smart and he understands where sacks are generated from. It's very rare that you see a defensive end just run around the corner and get free, especially with as much attention that's paid to elite defensive ends," Schottenheimer said. "Generally... [sacks] are because of the push inside and the A and B gap made by those defensive tackles: Kenny Clark, Osa [Odighizuwa], Solomon [Thomas]. ... I think Jadeveon is smart. It's that veteran experience where he's like, 'OK, man, if they're pushing the pocket I can run a little bit deeper around the edge and have a chance to get home.' It speaks to Jadeveon's wisdom."  

The Star, the Cowboys' team facility that opened in 2016, also blew Clowney away. The 12-year vet has played for six other NFL teams: the Texans (2014-2018), the Seahawks (2019), the Titans (2020), the Browns (2021-2022), the Ravens (2023) and the Panthers (2024). However, he had never seen anything like Dallas' football palace that hosts tours at nearly all hours. 

"When I saw the place, I was like 'oh man, these guys they got it made. I've been on seven teams, and this place (The Star) is a lot different than any place I've been. They got a lot for these guys. They're a little spoiled," Clowney said. "Jerry Jones spoils his teams. You got to play well when you're spoiled like this. You want to be in a place like this for a while. Play well so you can stay around."  

So how much does Clowney have left to give the Cowboys at the age of 32?

"A lot." 

That's something he'll be able to show the football world, one way or the other, with Dallas' six primetime games this season. 

"I got seven (six) primetime games to prove and show the world. That was my whole thought on coming down here. I get to play primetime and put myself out there again. Sky is the limit again for me. I don't feel like I'm getting old. [Boxer] Terence Crawford just beat somebody [Canelo Alvarez] at (37) years old. I got a lot left in the tank."

It also helps that he and Schottenheimer overlapped with the Seahawks for a season in 2019 when Dallas' head coach was Seattle's offensive coordinator. 

"I knew Schotty already. I played with him in Seattle, so he kind of has a feel for me. I kind of had a feel for him," Clowney said. "When I saw him come in, I knew he was running it the right way because of how they ran it in Seattle. So I was kind of dialed in on that too with Schotty. 

Schottenheimer said he put on his "recruitment hat" from his days as a college football assistant with Syracuse (1999), USC (2000) and Georgia (2015) to help close Clowney in free agency. That made a big impact. 

"When you play with a guy, they kind of know you already. They know what you can do and expect out of you. So that made it a lot easier," Clowney said. "He didn't have to guess or anything. He already just knows how I roll and operate. He just knows how I get down. So like I said, I respect him a lot. I'm going to play hard for the guy and do my job for this team."

So could Clowney play as soon as Sunday in Chicago at the Bears in Week 3? He did take the field in 2020 with the Titans in Week 1 after signing with Tennessee six days before kickoff. Debuting with Dallas in Week 3 wouldn't be anything different. 

"I do expect to play, but I know the snap count. That's up to the coaches," Clowney said. ... "I walked into Tennessee Week 1 and played like 40 snaps [47] the first game, and we played at Mile High in Denver [in the altitude]. It's not new to me. It's football. It's just go out there, be physical, play your game and you get tired. ... If I get tired, they know what to do. They have other guys they can roll [in]. That's the whole thing about the defensive line: you want guys that can come in there and roll. That's what great fronts have: multiple guys rolling."

That's why Schottenheimer could see Clowney suiting up for Week 3, but he played coy and wouldn't make a firm declaration six days before kickoff. 

"I wouldn't bet against Jadeveon, but we don't have to make that decision now," Schottenheimer said. "We're certainly going to do what we think is in the best interest of the team and what's in the best interest of the team is he might be active and he might not."